How dairy can address climate change while feeding a growing population

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10:50-11:10

As the global population nears 10 billion by 2050, the dairy sector faces a complex challenge: ensuring food and nutritional security, supporting livelihoods, and driving economic growth while minimizing its environmental footprint. Dairy is not only a vital source of high-quality protein and essential micronutrients—particularly for vulnerable populations—but also sustains the livelihoods of approximately one billion people worldwide. However, the path to sustainability is not uniform across the industry. Emerging dairy economies must balance environmental progress with the need to expand access to nutrition and economic opportunities, while developed dairy economies face increasing regulatory pressures and the high costs of transitioning to lower-emission production models.

This talk will explore how dairy can be a key player in climate solutions by improving efficiency, reducing emissions, adopting regenerative agricultural practices, and leveraging innovations such as methane reduction technologies and integrated farming approaches. It will also address the financial and policy challenges that transformation places on the sector, particularly for farmers navigating the costs of adopting new technologies and sustainable practices. Through a combination of science-driven advancements, targeted investments, and farmer-led initiatives, the dairy sector can enhance productivity while reducing its environmental impact. With greater collaboration across the value chain, dairy can help build a more resilient, climate-smart food system that nourishes both people and the planet.

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Donald Moore, Executive Director, Global Dairy Platform, United States of America
Donald Moore is the Executive Director of the Global Dairy Platform (GDP), based in Chicago USA, and serves as Chairman of the Dairy Sustainability Framework, as a leader of the Pathways to Dairy Net Zero initiative, and as a member of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Private Sector Advisory Group and of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Guiding Group. He is also a past Chairman of the International Agri-Food Network and the Private Sector Mechanism to the United Nations Committee on World Food Security.